by Paul W. Barada
Monster Salary and Negotiation Expert
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One of the most useful but overlooked benefits of thorough performance-evaluation reference checking is the opportunity it provides for career development. Many employers view reference checking as a device for screening out unqualified candidates or as a way to make sure job skills, experience, training and education fit the open job's requirements. While those are both legitimate reasons to check references, focusing on them exclusively is limiting. Done thoroughly and thoughtfully, reference checking also offers recruiters a chance to grab talented candidates who, at first glance, may not make the grade.
Here's an example: Not long ago, we were asked to prepare a reference report on a candidate for a senior internal auditor's position with a major manufacturing company in the Midwest. All three of the candidate's references were friends and coworkers at a well-known accounting firm. They all expressed the concern that their friend was not ready for senior-level responsibility yet. They were worried that if the prospective employer expected him to perform as a senior from day one, the new employer might be disappointed and, worse yet, a bad job match could throw their friend off his career path.
Nonetheless, the company was sufficiently impressed with the candidate and hired him but at a lower level. Within a year, he had gained the necessary experience with the company to assume the responsibilities of the position the employer originally wanted to fill. Careful reference checking was the only way for the prospective employer to get that information.
Here's another illustration, where, again, the client was a major manufacturer: The company was looking for a sound and vibration engineer. We were asked to check the leading candidate's references. After talking to three of them, it was clear the candidate's skills and experience were outstanding, but his interpersonal skills were next to nonexistent; he couldn't get along with anybody.
The company hired the individual anyway, armed with the knowledge he needed serious interpersonal training. His new managers initially assigned him to a lab and gave him projects he could handle alone. At the same time, they enrolled him in an interpersonal skill-training program. Over time, he was not only able to work in a team setting but also became capable of managing projects involving dozens of other engineers and technicians. Thorough performance-evaluation reference checking gave the employer the insight necessary to provide appropriate career development training and increase his value to the organization.
Using a reference report as a career-development tool might seem threatening to some, but it really isn't. None of us are experts at everything. We can all grow and learn as our careers unfold. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to count the number of instances where references have said, "She's great doing A, B and C but really needs experience doing D, E and F to advance her career." For companies genuinely interested in increasing their employees' net worth over time, an assessment of career needs is essential.
We have all heard comments like, "We want to groom the next person we hire to eventually become our vice president of widget manufacturing." Over an employee's active life, that grooming process can easily represent a million-dollar investment. Knowing the areas in which the individual needs more exposure or experience will clearly help ensure the investment pays off. That's one of the direct benefits of performance-evaluation reference checking.
To gain the benefit, however, requires taking a larger, more expansive view of the reference-checking process. To define reference checking as only the verification of job titles and dates of employment is shortsighted, to say the least. To view a reference check as a way to objectively evaluate past job performance is much closer to the mark than thinking of it as a light, once-over background check. To see it as a career-development tool as well is to hit the mark squarely and maximize results from reference checking.
